Steelers Close In On Exhibition Opener
Here are notes from the Steelers practice at St. Vincent College on Tuesday.
- Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said as they press forward to the preseason opener Friday night against Washington, the first team offense and second team defense stood out Tuesday during practice at St. Vincent College.
- Tomlin as to how the lockout affected their game readiness, "if we focused on how we felt this time of year, this time of year in past years. All of us would be extremely frustrated."
- Injuries-TE Weslye Saunders (tight groin), LB Jason Worilds (tight groin), Mike Wallace (groin-given off day), Ramon Foster (mild concussion)
- "When everyone's down, we gotta find somebody," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on finding 3rd year receiver Tyler Grisham for a touchdown during practice Tuesday. "He's doin' big things. You have to give him a lot of credit because he moves around to about 4 or 5 different positions. So he makes one mistake a day but he plays 30 different positions. He seems to drop some of the easier ones because I think he loses concentration sometimes. When he stays focused, he has really, really good hands."
- Steelers tight end John Gilmore played for Joe Paterno atPennStateand said he texted his son and assistant coach Jay Paterno after he heard about his fall at practice and told Jay "to tell pops to walk that one off." "I don't know what he's taking or what he eats, but I think we all need to get on it. I don't think it will take that long to get out there in some capacity whether he's in a cart or a walker or somethin'."
- Steelers GM Kevin Colbert told the Fan Morning Show that the door was still open for free agent wide receiver Jericho Cotchery. As for the wide receivers, "even with Emmanuel (Sanders) healthy, beyond Hines from an active roster standpoint, we don't have a lot of depth. You don't have another veteran in the group, so you don't have a lot of veteran help. When a guy like Plaxico Burress was available and Jericho Cotchery is available, it's our duty to explore it and see if he can't add another guy in the group."
- Colbert also said about the first pre-season game you will see a lot of rookies and newcomers, "we don't have the mini-camps and OTAs to factor into our decisions. A lot of young guys will get a lot of opportunities. It will be an interesting pre-season."
